bible truth

The Mosaic Law stated that Israelites were forbidden to travel on the Sabbath in Exodus 16:29 “ Bear in mind that the LORD has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where they are on the seventh day; no one is to go out.” This law was given as they were traveling in the wilderness and indicated that there was to be no movement or ‘traveling’ on the Sabbath day. (i.e. they were not to ‘go out’ and search for manna, as there would be none given on the Sabbath) . It was not intended to forbid any movement as people still had to go to the tabernacle to worship, or go outside the camp to use the bathroom. The idea was to stay right in the city or encampment and do only what traveling was necessary for worshipping God and for life.

Over time, the Jewish leaders tried to find something that would let them ‘expand’ the distance they could travel and still be ‘right with God’. In early times, they fixed the distance at 2000 cubits. This arbitrary distance was justified by using Joshua 3:4, where the scripture says: “Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about two thousand cubits between you and the ark; do not go near it.” This was the distance that the people were told to stay away from the Ark of the Covenant as it was carried by the priests. This is about 3000 feet (the length of 10 football fields) or about .58 miles.

At first this distance was applied within the city boundaries, but as time went on, the rabbis interpreted the verse in Exodus to mean that one could travel that far from the boundaries of the city, and set up ‘Sabbath stones’, some of which have recently been unearthed to define the limits of their ‘rule’. This was approximately the distance from the walls of Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives outside the city (See Acts 1:12). The Pharisees doubled this distance by inserting a rule that if one had ‘food preparations’ at another location, then that place became his ‘place’ and he could travel 2000 cubits from the city and then another 2000 cubits to his ‘place’ of abode.

In later New Testament times, the Pharisees again expanded the limit by saying that if a person could travel 4000 cubits on the Sabbath, that he would also need to return and thus could legitimately travel 8000 cubits on the Sabbath. We see allusions to the limits of travel imposed by the Jewish leaders in the New Testament. Places like Matthew 24:20 – “ Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath.”

Jesus taught that these man-made rules were not what God intended at all. That the “Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” and he rebuked the Pharisees for putting ‘heavy burdens’ on the people that they themselves were not willing to keep.

The story is told about a census taker who was making his rounds when he came upon a woman hanging clothes on an outside clothesline. ‘Madam’, he said, ‘I am taking the census and I need to know how many people live here.’ She replied, “Well, my name is Mary, and then there is Marcia, Patrick, Duggie, Amy, and …” The worker broke in – ‘Just give me a number, I don’t want the names’. To which the woman replied, ‘I’ll have you know, Sir, that we ain’t into numbering yet, we still haven’t run out of names.’

Our world is filled with so many people that we can easily feel insignificant. No one wants to know our name. They just want our number – social security, Medicare, I.D., or another string of numbers. It is a very impersonal world and we are just one of the masses. We end up feeling very lonely even when we are surrounded by large crowds. We can be tempted to listen to Satan’s whisper that we really don’t matter to God – that He is too busy taking care of the ‘world’ to deal with one person and their problems.

But in the eyes of our God, each of us is known personally, even before we were born – Psalm 139:13 “ For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” And in Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart, I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

We are also told that even our lifespan is known by the Lord – Psalm 139:16 “ Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” And not only does our Lord know each of us individually, but He is concerned about the daily needs of our life – Matthew 6:25-26 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” And we are told that the Lord knows even the smallest details of our lives – Matthew 10:30 “ And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” And Hebrews 4:13 – “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account”.

But perhaps the greatest blessing from our God is that of His concern and care for our eternal souls. He knew us, He loved us, and supplied the way of forgiveness while we were still rejecting Him – Romans 5:6-8. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Won’t you recognize that love and respond to it today – God loves you, Christ died for you to show that love, and He knows what is happening in your life minute by minute. He cares for you, individually!

One of the unchanging laws of God is that we will reap what we sow
Gal 6:7-8 “Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”

Our own sowing actions will determine the harvest that we reap. If our minds are on material things and fleshly desires, then we have determined the harvest ourselves and we can blame no one else. Those who choose to ignore God and live according to their own dictates can anticipate a harvest of eternal separation from the God they chose to ignore. The Lord said in Prov 1:24-31 “But since you rejected me when I called and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand, since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke, I will in turn laugh at your disaster; I will mock when calamity overtakes you – when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when disaster and trouble overwhelm you. Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me. Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord, since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.”

Those today who live lives following the immoral practices of the day will be the disappointed and disillusioned men and women of tomorrow. Many expect young people to ‘sow their wild oats’, and those same people expect to somehow avoid the consequences of those actions. But no one can sow wild oats and expect to harvest salvation. Unless a person turns to God in repentance and change their behavior, we will have to reap the harvest of every sin that we commit. God will not be mocked – 2Cor 5:10 We cannot expect to live in sin and somehow hide it from God – Num 32:23.

If we want the spiritual fruit of peace, happiness, security, and salvation, then we must sow good spiritual seed. Many waste years when they should have been sowing God’s seed, and then act surprised when they do not receive the desired rewards at harvest time. The prophet Hosea said in Hosea 8:7 “They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind.” This is what many will find at judgment day- we will reap at the harvest what we sow now. Paul told those in Thessalonica – 2Thess 1:7-9 .. “This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with His powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power.”